Time to upgrade?

[UnfaTeFuL]

I've gotten my computer just a little over 2 years ago. I think it's time for an upgrade. Right now, I'm limited to about $200.

Here are the current problems I face:
My computer isn't overclocked and runs at 61C cpu/47C case on full load. I have a thermaltake 900 heatsink with a tornado fan. The hard drive is insanely hot and can leave burn scars if I touch it too long. I believe that's the main problem for such a high case temp. Should I switch to watercooling and overclock my mobo?

The motherboard doesn't support anything above 2400 speed ram. I bought the kingston not long ago because my old ram became faulty. Everyone recommended me to get 3200 kingston for continue future use. I play the latest games and I use Maya and photoshop CS, Should I get more ram?

The graphics card seems to be getting old and out of date. I have 2 cd rom drives, 2 hard drives, and the specs in my sig. Is the generic 350W PSU enough?

What I plan to do is to get update so I can still run games at 1024x768 at high details. I can't even run City of heroes at high quality now and it lags quite a bit when I play winamp at the same time. Doom 3 doesn't run PERIOD. Even at the lowest settings. Maya/Photoshop CS takes up so much ram it sometimes freezes.


And when I run games, my computer gets as hot as 68C cpu/51C case, which I'm pretty damn sure is hot enough to fry the mobo and whole system so i don't play any games too long. MY room temp is around 65-69F. I want to upgrade in overall speed and lower my temps at the same time.

 

[TheMostWantedPolishTwin]

do you have any case fans? if not start upgrades from there.. also - when was the last time you opened your computer? there might be allot of dust in the heatsink what would explain the high CPU temp..

 

[Anarchonixx]

Agree with that's stated above. Clean up if you haven't first. Get some new thermal grease in there also just in case, etc.

Right now, I'm limited to about $200.

Might be a problem.

My computer isn't overclocked and runs at 61C cpu/47C case on full load.

Palomino cores did run pretty damn hot, but the max die temp is 90C IIRC. Not sure if it's normal to get to 61C under full load, maybe others that actually owned Palominos can comment on their full load temps.

Should I switch to watercooling and overclock my mobo?

IMO, that'd be a waste of money. Not only will you not really be upgrading at all, but... you won't be upgrading at all.

The motherboard doesn't support anything above 2400 speed ram. I bought the kingston not long ago because my old ram became faulty. Everyone recommended me to get 3200 kingston for continue future use. I play the latest games and I use Maya and photoshop CS, Should I get more ram?

I'd say more RAM would be a good idea. But really, I think it's time for a new system.

The graphics card seems to be getting old and out of date. I have 2 cd rom drives, 2 hard drives, and the specs in my sig. Is the generic 350W PSU enough?

Well, if it hasn't given you any problems so far, it's fine...




I would say just save up for a better system. New RAM, CPU, mobo at least, maybe faster HDs depending on what you have runnign right now... If you want to go on the cheap side, I'd go for an AXP, NForce2 combo with 512 DDR400 RAM. It shouldn't be that much over your $200 budget for a decent system...

 

[UnfaTeFuL]

So I should just get a whole new system, but keep the hard drive, graphics card and the ram? The ram was recently bought, but it doesn't run at the full 3200. I bought it for future upgrade of the mobo.

I also clean inside my computer at least once a month. But what explains the hot hard drive?

 

[Buckus]

So I should just get a whole new system, but keep the hard drive, graphics card and the ram? The ram was recently bought, but it doesn't run at the full 3200. I bought it for future upgrade of the mobo.

I also clean inside my computer at least once a month. But what explains the hot hard drive?

All modern hard drives get pretty hot, due to the high rotational speed. Time was, when 4200 and 5400RPM drives ruled, (or the absurdly slow, 5 1/4" Quantum "Bigfoot") hard drive of almost ten years ago, heat buildup wasn't such a big deal. I think the "Bigfoot" ran at something like 2500 RPM's. Anyway, I digress. The heads move much more now due to increased densities, and of course the speed. I usually wait about 1/2 hour after turning a computer off before touching the hard drive, but then again, people don't pay me to work on their computers these days, just to tell them what to do.